Daein, the war's instigator, and the victorious nation Crimea are still in the process of rebuilding. I think it is a hidden gem that shouldn't be missed by fans.The continent of Tellius, with its seven nations and the cities within them.įire Emblem: Radiant Dawn begins three years after The Mad King's War, in the year 648. Radiant Dawn got a bad rep for its difficulty spikes and sold less than PoR or any other FE released in the west. This does take some getting used to but it wouldn't be an FE game if you didn't have a few surprises midway through the chapter :) VERDICT: This was one of the best games I have played and I feel that it didn't get the recognition it deserved. Overall I feel that the difficulty spikes can be mitigated with the BEXP as it was clearly intended for this reason. I feel the Bonus exp system was put in place for exactly this reason and also why BEXP actually has hard coded 3 guaranteed stat upgrades while on the field RNG determines how many upgrades happen (min is 1, same as PoR which is an improvement over older FE games where RNG could screw you with no stat upgrades). Also, unless you are reading in forums and walk-throughs you are not aware that the viewpoint will shift. While you do spend more time with them in the beginning they do not get enough experience to get to second tier ranks. Just to elaborate a bit there exists one faction (the one you start with ) that is comprised of mostly base tier characters. I feel that the developers have tried to implement features in the game to circumvent the problem but you should be forewarned that the first time this happens it will feel horrible. The BAD: - Difficulty spikes: Due to the nature of story telling in this game the viewpoint shifts from one protagonist to another in quick succession and that can cause difficulty spikes. I thought it was an excellent idea implemented really well. I was really surprised by the Still to Come aspect of the different parts as it shows a mixture of cut scenes and maps of the upcoming chapters at the end of each part. Cut scenes and STILL to COME: I loved the cut scenes implemented in this game as there are a lot more than PoR and seem to be much longer than before. Scale of battles: By far this has the biggest scale in any FE game, it really looks like the team intended for the player to get the scale and magnitude of the war. The second tier is where characters like Astrid really start coming into their own. Second tier promotions: Getting a second tier promotion really makes it feel like your characters have improved. This makes the game feel so much better as playing without a save file feels really different. Import of PoR: almost all characters from PoR return and the game save import allows you to have the whole team imported with their current stats (plus some to account for the 3 years in between the 2 games). Forging is a new favorite activity and is unlimited (as long as you have money) whereas POR limited to once per chapter. Bonus EXP feature has been retained and is really a welcome addition. The game play is excellent and improved upon over PoR. I really liked how it basically shows both versions, the first play through with no choice and the second which allows you to see the what/if scenario essentially. It expanded upon the PoR story in a lot of ways, providing deeper insight in the psyche and reasoning of the antagonists - second play though allows you to see certain key points in different ways and allows recruitment of 2 hidden characters that fleshes out the story even more. The GOOD: - Story is definitely one of the strong points of this game. For veteran gamers the option to have map only animations works wonderfully as those are animated well and cuts down on the time. The animations are improved over the predecessor and look great. This is by no means a bad thing as the game is beautiful to look at and play. The graphics are improved in some areas but look similar to the older game cube installment in others.
This installment definitely improves upon the previous installment in a lot of subtle ways. It is only the second game that is a direct sequel to a previous Mainline installment. Radiant Dawn continues the story of Path of Radiance for the Game Cube.
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.